Lost in Her Mind
by bookworm835
Summary: Chapter 4 up! Little Megan Pace begins seeing visions of her "dead" uncle. Meanwhile, Charlie must keep one of the island's dark secrets hidden from the others... or else. WIP
1. Believe in Life

**Title:** Lost in Her Mind  
**Author:** bookworm835  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category(s): **Drama/Action/Adventure  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost, yes, we all already know that... wah.  
**Summary: **Megan begins seeing visions of her lost uncle Charlie. Continues the Lost series too, you know, like the normal episodes, but has Megan stuff too. Terrible summary but RR anyway!  
**Spoilers: **Um, prob'ly will have a little of every episode, but mostly "The Moth" and "All the Best Cowboys have Daddy Issues" and maybe a few more recent episodes too.  
**A/N - HEY, YOU ALL EVERYBODY (hehe), MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS: **Okay, peoples, I think Megan was supposed to be, like, three when this happened but I'm making her seven or something. It makes things easier than making the main character a little toddler, you know? Hope you like. This idea just sort of popped into my head today so if it's a little messy, sorry! Also sorry if there are a ton of spelling/grammar mistakes. Still... hope you all like!

* * *

_She crept silently through the green and black foliage, her small hands being torn and bruised by the thorns and branches on nearby bushes. She was drawn towards the faint, muffled cries in the distance and though she didn't tell her legs to move, she'd never ran faster or quieter than she was now. It was growing dark but she was not afraid. She wasn't brave, either. She felt empty, emotionless - all she knew was that she needed to get to that sound. There was something there that was calling her... but no, she could not hear the calls in her ears - instead, they rung around her head; _inside_ her head. The trees loomed forbiddingly above her head, whispering. Yes, the trees where whispering... _Turn back, turn back,_ they said, but she paid no mind. She kept moving, step by step, step by step. Not far now._

_"No, please no!"_

_She heard the voice - it was a woman's - it painted a picture in her head. Long, wavy locks of gold hair, a sweet face. Australian. Loving, motherly, but scared. Very, very scared._

_"Don't hurt him, please, please!"_

_The voice urged her to run faster. Swift as the wind itself, she hurried on, but she didn't feel the fear that the frightened woman did. She didn't feel concern for her either, or whoever 'he' was. Whoever 'he' was... he was going to be hurt... and she didn't care. But she needed to see him, see her, see them both._

_"I'll do whatever you want! Let him go! Take me instead!"_

_Darkness was falling. In her mind's eye she could see two other people rushing through the forest. The man was tall with short, dark hair; the other, the girl, was younger, with thick brown-black hair and a pretty, freckled face. But these weren't the people she was looking for. She _knew_ they weren't the ones. But they were heading in the wrong direction. She could tell they were looking for what _she_ was looking for, yet they ran south, not east._

_Nonetheless, she did not try to help them. She was too small anyway - no one would ever believe her, she was a mere child, after all. No one ever believed the children._

_She ran east._

_"Help me! Jack! Kate! Please!"_

_The Aussie woman's voice was becoming more frantic and it wavered with sadness now._

_She could see the tears welling in the Australian's sapphire eyes. _

_Run faster. Run - faster! _

Turn back.

_No, run, run! _

Turn back NOW!

_NO!_

_"NO!"_

_This voice was not her own. It was the Australian's. And as she, the child, finally made it to the clearing she saw a brown-haired man dragging the Australian (she was just as the child had imagined) away. The Australian had her hands tied behind her back and salty tears were streaking clean spots down her dirty, bruised face. The brown-haired man continued to tug her off relentlessly, hardly blinking an eye when the Australian struggled and kicked._

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

_And then they were gone... but they did not disappear into the jungle, they simply vanished - faded away like smoke, quick and silent. The whole scene dissolved around the child, all except for the small clearing and a single, tall tree._

_Suddenly, as she began to realize what was happening around her, fear gripped the child and all emotions rushed back to her - confusion _(where am I?)_, fright _(who was that man?)_, anger _(why was he so cruel to the Aussie girl?)

_Slowly, very slowly, she lifted her head to face the heavens but they were not purple-blue or star-spotted, they were pitch black, and the moon glowed crimson like blood, casting an eerie red shadow across the clearing and across her face. She turned with dread and gasped. There, hanging from a vine by his neck, was another man, a different man from the other darker-haired two. His dirty-blond hair was plastered to his forehead, turned brown from moisture. A rag was tied round his head as a blindfold. His arms hung limply in front of him and his legs dangled high off the ground._

_She screamed._

_Then he dissolved, too._

_She was alone and the moon was glowing in a more vibrant scarlet color. It bathed the entire world red. She was lost. There was nothing around her but the black sky and the red moon. She began breathing harder. The red light was becoming more than light, it was more like a fog now. She coughed. The air was thickening, leaving dark-red droplets on her skin. She touched a driblet and brought it up to her face, examining it closely. Then her eyes widened. The air was still getting thicker and thicker and turning watery, but denser. She opened her mouth wide, choking, and a coppery-tasting, tangy liquid poured in. Her feet lifted off the ground and her arms and legs pumped frantically. She couldn't breathe, she was drowning. She was drowning in blood._

-

"Megan? Megan! Wake up!"

Megan was being shaken awake, Liam Pace, her father, clutching at her small shoulders, sitting on her bright pink bed with her. The digital clock on her nightstand glowed red. It said 12:42 AM.

Tears streaked her face, not the Aussie woman's, _hers, Megan's_. She sobbed uncontrollably, her breathing quick. Liam gave her another shake. Her eyes shot open and she stopped crying, blinking, stunned.

Liam hugged her close with a soft sigh. "Shh, it's alright, sweet," he said gently, smoothing her shiny blond hair.

"Daddy?" she gasped, stiff in his arms.

He nodded. "Yes, it's alright, Meggy. It was just a dream."

She went lax in his arms, buring her face in his shoulder, fresh tears burning her eyes. "No, no, it wasn't just a dream! It was real."

Liam shook his head. "I heard you screaming, Meg, and when I came into your room you were tossing around in your bed, sleeping. You were _sleeping_, sweet, you were _dreaming_ and everything's okay now, see? Daddy's here. Mummy's in bed upstairs. We're all okay."

"No!" She sniffled. "No, Uncle Charlie isn't okay."

Liam's eyes went wide. "W-what about Uncle Charlie, sweet?" he asked quickly, trying to remain calm. He hadn't told her about the plane crash. He hadn't told her about the sudden, unexpected, tragic death of the uncle she hardly knew and everyone else on board. He hadn't told her that the plane had never been found.

She sniffed again. "Uncle Charlie. I was in a jungle place and then there was a pretty lady being pulled away by a scary man. And I looked up and the moon was red and then I turned around and Charlie was hanging there by his neck! It was so scary Daddy, he wasn't breathing, he was dead! And then I couldn't breathe, it was scary, it was so scary -"

He shushed her. "I-it's alright now," he murmured, stroking her hair. "Charlie... he wasn't hung. He..." Liam gulped. "Megan... Uncle Charlie died a long time ago. He was in a plane crash. No one survived. He wasn't hung... because he's been dead for more than a month."

Her mouth open slightly, Megan looked frozen on the spot; the only sign of movement came from her eyes. Silent tears were still streaming down her pale, warm cheeks. Then she wrapped her little arms around her father and he picked her up and set her in his lap.

"I'm sorry, Meggy, I'm sorry... I should've told you... No more tears, alright? No more crying, no more sadness. It's okay. Daddy's here, Daddy's here, Daddy will make everything all better."

She took in a slow, shuddering breath. "Uncle Charlie is... dead?" she asked numbly.

"I'm sorry..."

Megan felt a funny feeling on the top of her head and looked up. Pearly tears rolled down his face too. She held him tight and they sat together in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Megan glanced at the clock. 1:27 in the morning. She swiped her purple, floral printed sleeve across her eyes. Liam was staring out the window solemnly. Tears still clung to his eyelashes.

"Daddy?"

He blinked and looked down at her. "Yes, sweet?"

She took a deep, steadied breath. "Daddy... I believe... that it wasn't just a dream."

He blinked back more tears.

"And you know what else I believe?"

"...What?"

"I believe that Uncle Charlie is still alive."

* * *

**Okay, sorry if this chapter was too short, I seriously thought it was gonna be longer. The end of this chapter was sorta crappy but I hope you still liked it! Reviews, please? Oh, and this was NOT a one-shot. It WILL be continued. Next chapter will take place on the island, continuing the series from "Outlaws".**


	2. Maybe

**Disclaimer:** Blah blah blah, yes, I don't own Lost, I am making NO money, blah blah, whatever. :tears:  
**A/N:** Okay, this chapter will hopefully be a bit more actiony/adventurey. Last chapter was just dramatic, maybe even angsty. Er, _probably _angsty. This might be angsty too, though, and it will ALWAYS dramatic. I have, like, an impairment where I absolutely can't do ANYTHING without adding a bit of drama, as much as I suck at it! Haha, I always make drama cheesy. So... yup. Sorry if my style annoys you, I ask a lot of questions and such in my stories. Hope you still like, pretty please review:) My b-day's coming up; I WANT REVIEWS:D Thank you to everyone who reviewed already, you're the reason I continued! Um, okey dokey now, I'll shut up so you can start reading.

* * *

Charlie gazed up at the horizon. The sun sunk beyond the cobalt-blue water. It splashed pink and gold colors magnificently across the sky. The sun was disappearing, but not quite. The sun... a blood-red sun.

He sat on a black rock. That rock was different than the others. It was larger, darker. The _black rock_... why did it sound so familiar?

Waves lapped at his bare feet. He sighed. Claire had been over a few moments before.

"Are you alright, Charlie?" she had asked.

He had nodded, a hollow expression set on his face. His right hand - his gun hand - twitched and tapped anxiously against his leg. His other hand fingered the faint scar that was left around his neck.

"Are you sure?"

He had nodded... then shook his head. "Yes... but no."

Claire made to sit down with him, grunting and stretching around her bulging stomach, but he told her, "You should go."

Her eyes widened a bit. "Oh... oh, okay," she had said, her face flushed. She straightened back up.

"Claire, I - I'm sorry, I mean... I didn't mean... I'm sorry," he had stammered.

She had shaken her head this time. "No, _I'm_ sorry," she said softly, sadly.

"Claire -"

But she had already left.

If only she knew. If only he could tell someone. If only he could make things right again. But no one knew and he could not tell anyone and he certainly could not make things right.

"You shouldn't be out here alone."

He could do whatever the hell he wanted. He wished it had been Claire come back to say that but it wasn't. It was Jack; he could tell without looking. So he didn't look. He had wanted to apologize to Claire. But it was only Jack, only the doctor hero.

He stared blankly out at the sea, wondering what was on the other side. Was it salvation or was this island his only salvation? Maybe he had been meant to crash there. After all, it w_as_ fate. The tapes on his fingers plainly told him that this was fate and he was too late to change any of that. Maybe Charlie was just in denial. Maybe he was just going crazy. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was just another victim of destiny. Maybe. When would he be sure?

"...Charlie?"

"I'm fine here on my own, thanks," Charlie said.

Jack crouched down.

Charlie swallowed and the corners of his mouth jerked. "You should go."

But Jack didn't leave. "Something wrong?" he asked. Charlie felt Jack's eyes on his hands. He clenched them into fists and brought them down to his sides. Jack pressed on. "What's bothering you? I can tell something's wrong."

Huh. Jack, he thought he knew everything. Well, Charlie had some secrets that he could still hide from him. But could he hide them from the others, Locke in particular? Jack thought he knew everything. Locke _did_ know everything.

"I'm okay. I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

_Bloody hell_, he could be annoying.

Charlie shrugged and frowned. "Stuff." Hint, hint. Leave me alone, bastard.

Jack could tell he obviously didn't want to talk about it. Nevertheless, he blundered on. "Does it have to do with Claire? Ethan? What's the matter, man?"

The sun was setting. It was red... dark, dark red against the black, black sky. Red suns, black rocks, ebony skies, blue waves, dim stars, dark hearts. Something had cracked. Maybe it had been when he lost DriveShaft. Maybe it had been when he lost his brother. Maybe it had been when he lost his drugs. Maybe it had been when he lost Claire. Maybe it had been when he murdered Ethan.

Or maybe it had been when he had died and the secrets had eaten out his insides in their battle to make it out.

When would he be sure?

"Leave me alone! Just bloody leave me alone, it's not your business. Maybe I'd be fine if you'd all just go away!"

Jack didn't 'go away'. So Charlie did.

He leapt up and stormed off into the jungle, Jack still calling after him.

"Charlie, where are you going? C'mon, Charlie, don't go into the jungle after dark, it's dangerous! You don't know what's out there! There are still others on this island! Charlie! _Charlie!_"

-

"_Murderer..._"

Charlie spun around. What had gotten into him, running off into the jungle by himself? And it was just because Jack had asked him if he was doing okay! Someone or something was following him around the woodlands, whispering, and now, he told himself, he was going to die. Oh God, he was going to die? Shit, he was such an idiot!

"_Murderer..._"

Then he realized it wasn't _someone_ whispering. It was the trees. The trees were whispering.

"_Merciless killer, you deserve death as well as he did..._"

Charlie tried to swallow his fear. It didn't work. It caught and made a lump in his throat. "I - I had to," Charlie choked out nervously, inwardly wondering why he was talking to a bunch of sodding plants.

"_Charlie..._"

His eyes wide, he stopped turning but the world didn't. Everything spun wildly around him. He felt dizzy and slightly nauseous.

"_Keep our secret, Charlie, or the island will take from you what you took from it..._"

Falling on his knees, he tried to still the constant lurching and reeling of the ground below him. He pushed his hands onto the sides of his head, doubling up. If only it would stop, if only he could make things right...

Then he heard soft sobbing.

And he knew whose voice it was.

"Kate?"

"_One... two... three... four... five...!_"

"Kate, it's me! It's Charlie, where are you?" He staggered to his feet, groaned, and held his stomach as the ground pitched beneath him. "Kate, it's alright... where are you? Can't you hear me?"

"_Charlie?_"

The sobbing grew louder. Charlie steadied himself against a tree trunk. He realized what he had done and jerked away but the tree did not speak. Relax, Charlie, trees don't talk. You were imagining things.

"I'm right here, Kate!"

"_ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! CHARLIE, HELP ME!_"

Charlie whirled on his heels and heard a violent crashing sound off in the distance then a mighty roar. The monster, the unknown, it was heading for her, for Kate! He had to save her, he couldn't let her die, he couldn't die, she couldn't die! No, why was this happening to him? Hold on, Kate, hold on...!

"_CHAAAAARLIIIIIIIIIIIE!_"

**B A M ! C R A C K !**

"_Keep our secret, Charlie._"

Suddenly, a stinging, hot pain stung the back of his head, spreading across his face and down his neck to burn the rest of him. His whole body went numb and suddenly he was hanging by his neck - he couldn't breathe! What was happening? He looked down and saw her. He saw his niece. He saw Megan.

She screamed.

Then everything dissolved and his world went black.

And he was dying. There were no maybe's.

He was finally sure.

**

* * *

OH NO! Poor Charlie! Haha. Cliffie. I'm so evil. Hope it's getting good, sorry if it wasn't as descriptive as the last chapter! Please review, constructive critisism is nice too. Thanks:)**


	3. Nothing More

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, J.J. Abrams-or-however-you-spell-his-name's. :sniffle: No money is being made. Yes, yes, you already know all of this. I wouldn't be posting this on the internet if I DID own Lost, I'd be putting it on TV, duh! And if I owned Lost, it'd be on EVERY stinkin' day, not just Wednesdays. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. EVERY STINKIN' DAY!  
**A/N:** Okay, sorry people, but this might be the most boring, stupid chapter so far. I mean, why am I talking about fractions? 1/5 + 2/5 + 3/5 1. Hmm, pointless, you say? Ha! I laugh at you. Ehem. Just kidding. I do not laugh at my readers! I thank you all! Especially you reviewers. GO REVIEWERS! Um, this author's note is probably boring too so just GO READ! Hope you all like.

* * *

Megan yawned and lay her head on her folded arms. Her teacher was going on about fractions.

"What is one fifth plus two fifths plus three fifths?... Anyone? Miss Pace, you look willing."

Jerking back into awareness, Megan looked around wildly. A few of her classmates sniggered. She had been up most of the night with her father. She was tired. One plus two plus three? "Umm, five fifths. One." When in the world was she going to use this stuff?

"Very good, yes."

The teacher went on, tapping her pointer stick on the blackboard. Her eyelids heavy, Megan buried her face in her arms. Just a quick nap wouldn't hurt. No one would notice if she just closed her eyes for a bit. No one would notice. No one... would... notice...

-

_It was dark but the many fires set an eerie glow across the many exhausted people. Megan stepped carefully around them but they did not look up at her. It was if they oblivious of her presence. Maybe they were. Maybe. But maybe not all of them._

_She heard something that caught her attention._

_"Dude, you feeling okay? You look a little -"_

_"Flu. He's got the flu."_

_"Oh, man, that's rough, after all you've been through? Take it easy, man."_

_The voices. A larger man with with wild, frizzy brown hair and the tall, dark-haired Jack man. And beside them sat a smaller figure, smothered entirely in a black hoodie. He was holding a small teacup of water in trembling hands. His fingers spelled **L A T E** in bold black lettering. Who was late? Was she too late to save him, save Charlie? Somehow, was fate messing with them all? Maybe it wasn't simply chance that his fingers had said this. Maybe he was communicating with her without even realizing it. _

_The large man Hugo - no, Hurley - walked away. Charlie glanced over at Jack and gave him an incredulous, grateful smile. Jack had been covering up for him. For the first time Megan could see her uncle's face. He was pale and his eyes were reddish but it wasn't the flu. She didn't know how, but she could tell that he was not sick with the flu - even before Jack had lied to Hurley._

_And there was no mark on his neck whatsoever!_

_The fire crackled. Megan watched it for a while, entranced, before turning back to her uncle. He was staring off into the distance. She followed his gaze and saw a bald, older man with a scar across his eye cooking a boar on a spit._

_"I think I'm going to stretch my legs," Charlie mumbled, setting down his cup and getting up. Jack nodded at him and let him leave. Megan followed. Charlie was heading towards the older man John Locke._

_"Give them to me," Charlie commanded, suddenly looking much angrier than he had before._

_Give him what?_

_"This is the third time. Are you sure you really want them?" Locke replied calmly enough, and when he looked up Megan saw that one of his eyes was jet black and the other was milky white. She wondered why Charlie didn't notice. For a moment he looked over Charlie's shoulder and Megan could swear that he was looking right at her. She cringed and backed up behind Charlie._

_Charlie took a deep breath. "I've made my choice." But he didn't look sure. Was Charlie _ever_ sure of _anything

_Locke pulled something from his pocket. Megan struggled to see what it was as he handed it to Charlie. Charlie took it and stared at it for a few moments. Megan saw that it was a small baggie filled with a brownish powder. What was that? Whatever it was, Charlie threw it down into the fire. The flames greedily ate it away. A moth fluttered by. What was going on? What was happening? _

_She was mesmerized by dancing and swaying of the flames. Then, the fire erupted around her. She was in a boat of some kind and a little black boy not much older than she was watching it burn from the safety of the beach. _

_"Help me!" she called. She guessed he couldn't see her either. That, or he just wanted her to die. "Please, help! Someone! Uncle Charlie! Uncle Charlie!"_

_But no help came. The black boy shook his head sadly in an almost ashamed way. He silently slipped away. The fire was scorching Megan's hair, her clothes, and the smoke was burning her lungs._

_She shut her eyes tight and waited for it to be over._

_But it didn't end._

_She was taken away from it all, instead, and she was in the dark again, with nothing in or around her, nothing but blackness. It was worse than the fire. She heard an odd, echoey, screeching sound behind her. And there he was, her uncle Charlie, standing _right there

_"Charlie, Uncle Charlie, it's Megan!" she called._

_He was standing (or maybe it should've been called levitating, for there was nothing but black beneath him as well) alone. His eyes were shut and he had a sort of closed expression on his face. He didn't move an inch._

_She saw little spurts of flame by his feet. One... two... three... four... five...! Five flames. Five fears. Count to five. They transformed into five moths and twisted around Charlie's head._

_"Charlie?" Megan called, close to tears. She struggled to get to him._

_They were spinning more rapidly now. They lifted Charlie's hair. His eyes twitched as if he was trying to wake up from a nightmare but otherwise he remained motionless._

_The moths were spinning so fast that they seemed to morph together but she couldn't let them. She couldn't let them! They'd kill her! They'd kill him!_

_"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE!"_

_She was sobbing now. He wasn't moving. The moths were now one giant silvery blur and they abandoned Charlie. They were heading towards Megan. They weren't _they_ anymore, though. It was an it. A single silver cloud._

_"CHARLIE, HELP ME!"_

_The silver cloud engulfed her bit by bit, swallowing up her feet, then her legs, up and up until it surrounded her head as well. She was able to shout one last time._

_"CHAAAAARLIIIIIIIIIIIE!"_

_The cloud became flame again in a burst of light._

**B A M ! C R A C K !**

_Charlie's eyes shot open. Megan saw the dark-haired, freckled girl Kate on her knees, sobbing into her hands. Charlie yelled her name. He yelled for Kate, not for Megan._

_Then a low, booming voice whispered, "Keep our secret, Megan."_

-

"She can't afford to have nightmares in the middle of class, Mr. Pace."

"Yes."

"She pratically started a riot, falling on the floor yelling her little head off. The other kids panicked."

"Yes, I understand."

"Don't let it happen again."

"I won't. _We_ won't."

"I'm afraid she'll have to be suspended if it _does_ happen again. Maybe you should be making sure she gets more sleep at home."

"Alright, yes."

Megan's eyes were downcast as her principal scolded her in front of her father. He reassuringly held her hand in his but it didn't make her feel better. It had been embarrassing. She had apparently woken up in her desk screaming bloody murder, then she had fallen over out of her seat. The other children had laughed at her but they didn't understand. She held a secret none of them could even imagine. If only she knew what it was and why it had to be hidden away from everyone else.

On the car ride home, Liam remained silent, staring blankly out at the road, biting his lower lip. The look on his face was killing Megan. She had to say something, _anything_ to break the quiet.

"Daddy, it was _him_ again," she explained.

He shook his head. "Megan, don't," he said firmly. "I'm sorry... but they're just dreams, alright? Nothing more."

"But Daddy -"

"Megan." His voice was raised. "Just. Don't. Charlie isn't coming back. We've all accepted it. You have to too. They're just dreams!"

Megan was surprised and a bit frightened with her father's angry response and stoical frown. She sighed and stared out the window.

_They're just dreams, alright? Nothing more._

Nothing more.

No.

There _was_ something more and Megan was going to find out what.

* * *

**Oy. :slaps forehead: Sorry for the sucky chapter. Hopefully the island chapter next will be better. They're a little easier so hopefully they're a bit more interesting too. Please keep reading even though this was the stupidest chapter in the history of the earth... :( I'll try to make the next chapter the best so far to make up for it! Megan's dream was, like, the dumbest vision thingy yet, but it's symbolism, you know? Ehem. Thanks to any and all reviewers!**


	4. This is the End

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Lost, just Charlie. Ha, yeah sure. Well then, I'm also the queen of England!  
**A/N: **I'm posting two chapters up at once today because last chapter was bad-bad-bad-bad-bad-terrible-bad so I need a better chapter to make up for it. This one continues the island thingy so it'll be more interesting than the whole Megan-sleeps-too-much-and-has-freaky-dreams thing. Heh. ;) Must resist urge to make more dream thingies! Oh, and NO, this is NOT a C/K fanfiction, even though it seems that it might be. It's NOT, it's C/C because Charlie and Claire are so very adorable together. P Also, does anyone know the name of the brand of Charile's shoes? I thought they were Chuck Taylors but I'm not sure.

* * *

He was shrouded in dark. It was freezing cold. He must be dead. He must be. He couldn't feel anything beneath his feet but a hot gust of air lifted his hair. He needed to open his eyes. He could hear screaming; but not Kate's, it was someone younger's. Much younger. 

But when he did manage to open his eyes, it was Kate in front of him, and a swirling silvery mass behind her.

"_Kate! Kate, look out! KATE!_"

Someone was calling him back.

"Charlie? Charlie! Wake up!"

His eyes shot open again as if they had been closed before... but he had been sure that they had been open. Where the hell was he? He could feel a warm hand on his face. His eyes out of focus, he saw a blurry black-and-orange blob in front of him.

"KATE!"

"I'm right here, Charlie!"

As his world cleared, Charlie looked around wildly, panting. Kate was watching him with worried eyes. He was in the middle of the jungle floor, a dull pain on the back of his head. It was freezing cold.

**B A M ! C R A C K !**

Charlie screamed and tried to bolt but Kate held him down. "It's okay, Charlie, it's just some thunder," Kate said breathlessly. "It's raining." Charlie struggled to his feet, leaning against Kate.

"You were dead," he said. "I was dead too, the monster killed you, but the trees were talking and then they - _they_ killed me..."

Kate's eyes were as round as dinner plates. She paled. "What, the trees? Uh, maybe you'd better lay down."

The ice-cold rain pounded down on Charlie's head.

"Oh - Charlie, what's that? Turn around a second." Kate grabbed his shoulders and spun him. Charlie blinked. He felt dizzy and nauseous but the world wasn't spinning anymore.

He suddenly became aware that the dull pain on the back of his head wasn't so dull anymore.

"Oww, don't do that," Charlie said grumpily as Kate prodded his wound.

"You have a huge cut here," Kate said, poking the spot.

"Stop!"

"Oh, sorry," Kate apologized.

"Where are the others?" Charlie asked as Kate ripped the hem of her shirt off and wrapped it hastily around his head. "How come you're out here when the others aren't?... Weren't you counting or was I imagining that too?"

Kate grabbed Charlie's wrist and dragged him along. "C'mon, let's see if we can get back to camp." She sighed. "Um... right, what? Counting?"

He nodded. The rain wasn't letting up. He shivered. "Yeah, like 'one, two, three, four, five.' Just to five."

This time Kate blinked. "I wasn't counting," she said rather quickly. "What was that other question? Mm, I was going to pick more fruits for Sun's garden is all."

"What time is it?"

"Probably early morning."

"Then what were you doing going berry-picking at midnight?"

Kate paused.

"Well?" Charlie pressed on. Kate held up her hand.

"Shh," she whispered, suddenly tensing.

"Kate ?"

"Shh!"

"What is it?" Charlie whispered as quietly as possible.

There was a loud crashing noise and an unhuman, grotesque roar ripped its way through the jungle.

"_Dammit, dammit - Charlie, run!_"

Charlie ran. Kate ran faster. Charlie was clumsier than she. She swerved and twisted around a corner. Charlie, slipping around in the mud, turned as well but there was no sign of her, not a single footprint. Lightning flashed above him, splitting the black sky, briefly lighting the jungle around him. Charlie narrowly missed a thorny bush. It scraped against his leg.

"_Bloody hell_," Charlie yelled angrily. His head was throbbing with a painful headache. The unseen monster was snapping and uprooting the trees behind him, snarling viciously.

Charlie glanced upwards, pushing through a thick veil of vines, looked down, then quickly stared back up, stopping dead in his tracks. Hanging by her neck above him was Kate, blindfolded and dripping wet.

"KATE! _KAAATE!_"

The monster was gaining on him. Sobbing violently, Charlie was forced to continue sprinting but to his surprise when he made it through the vines he was at the beach. He'd never known that was an entrance to the beach...

It was still dark - yes, it was early morning.

Not many people were there - there was Claire, Sawyer, and a few others he didn't know that had also refused to move to the caves. He ran over to Claire, slipping around in the soft sand. The soles of his retro Chuck Taylors were muddy and wet and nearly worn through. They weren't good for running.

He suddenly realized that the monster was no longer chasing him and it was no longer raining.

"Claire, Claire," he cried, trembling from head to foot, fear coursing through his veins. "C'mon, Claire!"

Claire sleepily opened her eyes and yawned. Halfway through she gasped, making her hiccup. "Charlie?" she asked incredulously, sitting up in her makeshift bed. "Oh, Charlie, you had me so scared! What were you doing, running off alone?"

"Claire - Claire, luv, Kate - she's - she's - and I - the monster- rain, thunder, bam - she was hanging there - Claire, I -"

Claire, her eyes wide, a flustered expression on her face, put her finger to his lips and hushed him gently. "Wait, Charlie," she interupted. "Take a deep breath now and tell me what's wrong! You poor boy, what happened? You're all wet and torn up. Let's take you to Jack, shall we?"

Charlie nodded numbly. Claire struggled to her feet and unexpectedly hugged Charlie. He was still shaking. "You poor boy," Claire repeated, "what happened?" She guided him like a child back towards the jungle. He cringed and pulled back.

"No, I don't want to go back in there," he whined. "Let's stay here, we can stay on the beach, can't we?"

"It's alright, Charlie, I'll be with you, it's not all that far to the caves. Jack is in the caves, remember?"

He whimpered like a puppy and Claire pulled him along like he was on a leash.

"What did you see?" she asked.

He shook his head, about ready to cry again.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me, Charlie," she said hurriedly. She patted his hand. "Nothing's going to hurt you."

Charlie was acting so differently than before. Before, when he had been sitting on the black rock, he was so closed off from the others, quiet and mournful, yet now he looked like a child that might burst out in tears any minute now. Even though she had told him that he didn't have to tell her, she truly wanted to know: what did he see?

As they walked along, Charlie kept jerking around, staring skywards.

"What are you looking for?" Claire asked him.

Charlie's eyes went wide. "It's happening, it's finally happening," he told her.

"What's happening?"

"This is the end," Charlie whispered. "Someone else knows... and the island is angry."

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter, people, it wasn't a whole lot better than the chapter before. Meh, it was probably worse than the chapter before. Ah well. Please please PLEASE review!**


	5. Tap, Tap, Tap

**Disclaimer: **Yes, yes, we all know this already -- I do not own diddly-friggin'-squat. Do not remind me. :-  
**A/N: **_OH MY FRICKIN' GOD. _I have made the _DUMBEST_ mistake _EVER_ made on _EVER! _Rereading chapter four, I realized that I said one fifth plus two fifths plus three fifths equals ONE. OH... MY... GOD. I AM THE STUUUUPIDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD:slaps self silly: I CANNOT BELIEVE MYSELF! Ahhhhh, this shall go in the record book, recorded as "Stupidest, most obvious mistake -- young author, bookworm835, has said that 1/5 + 2/5 + 3/5 1." It shall be posted on the Wall of Shame in all regions of the world! I AM SO STUPID! Feel free to flame me on my dumbness. I shall know that I have deserved it. Anyways, okay, last chapter was called "This is the End" so I had to put "WIP" in the summary because it is NOT the end of the story. And, rereading it, for some reason my computer forgot to put ? and ! and . sometimes. Sorry for the typos! Waah, now I have to do a Megan chapter. I find Megan chapters much more difficult to write. Hopefully it's still interesting. Thank you to all reviewers:huggles tearfully: I wuv you all... :regains dignity: Ehem. Let's move on, shall we? Oh, and it's been FOREVER since I've wrote in this so if it doesn't sound quite right, I apologize.

- - -

Tap, tap, tap.

_The ground lurched beneath Megan's feet. She whirled around, slightly nauseous. She was on an airplane. Outside, blue skies and white clouds whirred past. Again, no one seemed to notice her. Steadying herself, she routinely began her nightly search for her uncle._

Tap, tap, tap.

_There was a older, bald man that Megan recognized as the man Charlie had called Locke. Brushing back her blond curls, Megan began to walk past silently when she heard him mumble something almost incoherently, almost as one would do in sleep, but Megan could tell that he was not truly sleeping._

_"What are you searching for?"_

_Blinking, alarmed, Megan took a step backwards. She clapped her hand across her mouth. Her stomach churned. She shook her head disbelievingly, taking a few deep breaths. _

_"I'm talking to you, Megan Karen Pace. Now... what are you searching for?"_

Tap, tap, tap.

_"I'm searching for my uncle," Megan explained. "I -- I thought he'd be here."_

Tap.

_"He's here... we all are. We're lost and we cannot escape. Can you understand this? We cannot find our way home." Locke's voice was unnervingly calm._

Tap.

_"Where is home?" Megan whispered._

Tap.

_"Home..." Locke said softly, "home... is nowhere to be found. We're lost."_

Tap, tap, tap.

_Megan was shaking now. "W-w-where are we?"_

_There was a long silence. Then Locke's eyes opened and Megan was terrified to see that they were the same jet black and milky white colors. He smiled coolly. "You tell me," he murmured._

Tap, tap, tap.

_Megan backed away, Locke still smiling eerily. "I -- I -- I'm searching for Charlie." She took a few more steps backward. "I have to find him. I have to save him before... before he dies."_

_Locke's grin widened. "His life is already yours."_

_Her heart a constant drum beat, pounding painfully in her ears, Megan scurried off, her face pale. His life is mine? she thought. No... no, if his life was mine... he'd have to be... he'd have to... he'd... it's... impossible. Charlie is alive. Charlie _is _alive!_

_Following the odd tapping sounds, Megan loped nervously through the isle, looking like she was stepping on hot coals, skipping around from foot to foot. She saw a few irritated people staring behind their seats at a young man who's eyes were closed in a fitful half-sleep, music blaring from his CD player's headset. He was tapping his ring against the armrest of his airplane seat. When Megan got close enough to hear the music, she recognized the song as a tune from her father's old band. Liam had played Driveshaft's CDs often around their household. Liam's band... and his brother's._

_"Charlie?" she called in his ear. "Charlie, I've been looking for you!"_

_Charlie jerked awake, blinking. He whirled in his seat, his neck snapping around. From behind her, Megan heard a female voice. "Are you alright, sir?"_

_"I -- I'm good, thanks," Charlie mumbled._

_Megan looked around. A dark-haired flight attendant was looking slightly skeptical. "I can get you a water," she offered._

_"I'm fine," Charlie said rather quickly. "Thank you," he added, then hopeful that she might leave, "Please?"_

_The flight attendant nodded but looked very much unconvinced. "Alright," she said. She turned and walked back down the isle. Charlie twisted around and watched her talk secretively to another flight attendant. They both glanced up at Charlie, who swiftly turned back around, his eyes wide. When he looked back again, the flight attendants were heading towards him._

_"Charlie...?" Megan wrung her hands._

_Jumping up, Charlie bolted. He bumped into the black-haired man Jack. "'Scuse me," he muttered hurriedly, pushing past. Megan, her eyebrows arched, raced after her uncle. Her short legs and nauseous stomach made it hard to keep up with the panicked Charlie. Charlie frantically jiggled the doorknob to the bathroom but the door was shut and locked. Frustrated and obviously frightened, Charlie dashed off a different direction, the flight attendants yelling at him. Charlie shoved past a pretty blond in a pink miniskirt._

Excuse_ me," she said irritably._

_Charlie apologized and ran on. Megan, her heart pounding in her ears, scurried after, and Charlie sprinted into another bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Megan ran into the door and yanked on the doorknob. It was locked. Megan banged her fist against the wall._

_The flight attendants began to yell. "Sir, are you alright?" they said._

_"Just a minute," Megan heard Charlie mumble from behind the door, his voice muffled. She pressed herself flat against the door._

_"I'm going to have to ask that you open the door, please!"_

_"Just a minute..."_

_The flight attendants were getting impatient. Megan watched them hurry off for assistance. She stayed by the door. Suddenly the plane jerked underneath her. She heard a loud _"thud"_ from inside the bathroom and all the people outside the door screamed. Megan remained grounded, however, not budging an inch. She pounded on the door._

_"CHARLIE! CHARLIE, PLEASE, HEAR ME!"_

_Suddenly the door flew open and Megan had to jump out of the way. Charlie sprinted past and crawled into a seat. She followed him, unaffected by the tossing of the plane beneath her. Charlie pulled an oxygen mask that had fallen from the ceiling and pulled it over his mouth. Megan ran in front of him and stared into his gray-blue eyes. They were wide with fear. Megan reached her hand out, calling his name over the awful screeching and moaning of metal._

_"CHAAAAAAAAARLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"_

**B A M ! C R A C K !**

Megan screamed and sat bolt upright. She immediately felt that she was not at home; the ground beneath her was soft and gritty and the sky was bright blue. A gentle breeze picked up her gold hair. She wrapped her arms around herself in the strange, new place. After squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again to find that she was still on the sunny beach, she began to hyperventilate, tears rolling down her cheeks. Then, her vision blurred, she burst into hysterical sobs. She curled up and let the foam of the clear-blue waves wash her bare toes.

Then she heard a voice.

"Oy! You, there, you okay?"

Megan's eyes widened. Blinking wildly, she slowly turned around. A shortish man with dirty-blond hair and a scruffy beard stood along the edge of the jungle. His gray-blue eyes scrunched up. Then he took a step backwards.

"Megan?"

Her mouth dry, Megan whispered, "...Uncle Charlie? Where are we?"

-

**Yeah, I know, short, cheap, rip-offy kind of chapter. It's been too long since I've written in this last so it doesn't sound right. Sorry if it's boring, which I'm sure it is. If you don't like this please read my other stuff, some of it's better than this load of crap. Aaaanyways, now that you've read, you might as well review! Even flame (check the A/N at the top... it has at least two huge reasons to flame... go on, look! I shall not be offended!). **


End file.
